What is hypertensive?

My 23 yr old Daughter was just diagnosed with hypertensive. She's had major headaches, anxiety and panic attacks with some depression. Does anyone have any ideas of comments that could help understand what this is?? Thanks! ~D

As Kaismama said, hypertensive means high blood pressure. Hypertension is often a "silent" disease meaning it doesnt have symptoms but sometimes people will have headaches with hypertension. Hypertension (or HTN as it is sometimes abbreviated in medical "speak") is often accompanied by elevated heart rate (tachycardia) and this can be from anxiety and "panicky" feelings. I was young (32 years old) when I was diagnosed with HTN. I had had an elevated heart rate for a couple years prior. At rest I was often running 108-115 beats per minute (normal is from like 60-80 beats per minute) then slowly my blood pressure started rising. I have always held a high stress job and at that time I had two young boys I was running around after plus I was overweight. HTN is a familial disease in my case (meaning it runs in my family) My youngest son is hypertensive and was diagnosed at age 17. He was put on medications. He is now 19 y/o and will probably have to be on blood pressure meds the rest of his life. He is not an overweight child either. He is tall and thin without an ounce of extra fat on him. He is an active normal teenager. They did tests on his heart and his kidneys which are both healthy. They do not know why he is hypertensive at such a young age other than HTN runs in my family. My older son who is 23 is "borderline" hypertensive as well. He is at the high edge of normal. He doesnt require medication yet but he may at some point as he gets older. He is not overweight either. He has always been healthy, lifts weights, runs. He is an active duty soldier in the Army currently. So sometimes HTN just runs in families and some people are just prone to it. If your daughter is overweight, she may get better if she loses weight. Being overweight and out of physical shape can lead to HTN. Many people develop it in their 30-50's as they get more overweight and do less exercise. It is important that she eat right, avoid added salt, exercise and take any antihypertensive drugs they give her. Dietary salt can lead to HTN. It causes the body to retain extra fluid and makes the kidneys work harder to remove excess fluid and this can lead to HTN. So limiting salt intake can often help. Look up the DASH diet with any search engine and it will tell her how to eat properly as a hypertensive person. Exercise is important. It helps keep your heart and lungs strong and keeps your weight down AND it relieves stress and helps the body produce the feel good endorphins (chemically similar to morphine) that are important to helping us feel our best. Even just plain walking briskly every day for about 30 minutes is a great way to exercise. If she was given medication she needs to take it daily. She may need these medicines the rest of her life. Keeping blood pressure down is very important because left to rise too high, it can cause a stroke. Some young people with hypertension, who never go to the doctor (so it is not caught during routine vital signs) end up having a stroke as their first warning that they are hypertensive! This is the reason it is known as a "silent killer" because often people have absolutely no symptoms! Medications should help to relieve her headaches. I was put on the beta blocker Atenolol to bring down both my high blood pressure and high heart rate. I used to get horrible migraines and now after being on Atenolol for several years I dont get bad sick headaches nearly as often as I used to. For more information see:https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/high-blood-pressure-hypertension.html